Buckhead Reverts Forward
Have you been to Buckhead recently? You might have missed a recent trend. It’s reverting forward. Buckhead is becoming both more urban and more residential simultaneously. It will be fascinating to see what this brings over the next 5-10 years.
If you are a long time Atlanta resident, you likely remember Buckhead’s conversion from Atlanta’s upscale residential neighborhood into it’s go-go party district. This change climaxed with the Olympics and the Superbowl. A number of circumstances lead to rapid change away from Buckhead as party village concept and back toward a residential neighborhood. Now, however, this is a community of high rise urban living, and not of single family houses.
While Buckhead remains a vibrant restaurant and bar district, a majority of construction is residential. Tens of thousands (literally) of condominiums and luxury high rise apartments are being added every year; this trend promises to continue until at least 2008. The result is that of the 50,000 people expected to move into the city each year, 30,000 per year could easily move into Buckhead.
According to an ARC report, there is no longer one Buckhead. Really, there are now at least two. One is the traditional Buckhead Village area anchored by the 5 points intersection of Peachtree, Roswell, and E/W Paces Ferry. The other is the area around Lenox Mall and the GA - 400 interchange.
How will the community handle these new folks? I’m far more optimistic about the village than Lenox. The village already has provisions to work with a pedestrian model. Yes, people may need to drive in and out if they don’t work near their residence, but they can enjoy their non business lives on foot. There are several dry cleaners, food shops, drug stores, news stands, and book stores in the area.
The area around Georgia 400 is much scarier. To live your life, you still need a car: it’s all traffic, all the time. The Buckhead Uptown Connector will help ease business day congestion and provide MARTA connections, but it doesn’t connect to the Buckhead village or run on the weekends. Further, residents are trapped between an office park, shopping mall, and an enormous expressway. Residents will either have to demand intense changes and ensure years of additional construction or the market will collapse. Either prospect is not pleasing.
Those in the village may well enjoy a great quality of life while creating in Atlanta a true urban, elegant, and friendly neighborhood. Old time residents will appreciate it and visitors will too!